68 dead in temple stampede in north India - police.

(From AFX Europe (Focus))

SHIMLA, India (Thomson Financial) - At least 68 Hindu worshippers, nearly half of them children, were killed Sunday in a stampede during a religious festival in the northern Indian hill state of Himachal Pradesh, police said.

The accident took place at the famed Naina Devi temple in the state's Bilaspur district, where tens of thousands of people have been gathering for the festival that started Saturday.

"Sixty-eight people are confirmed dead and 45 others are injured," K.K Indoria, police superintendent of Bilaspur, told AFP.

Another top official said nearly 80 people had died.

"About 80 people have died …